A Russian Court on Monday banned the Moscow branch of the Church of Scientology. The court banned the church stating that it does not comply with federal laws on freedom of religion because ‘Scientology’ is a US trademark. This is the latest in a series of battles between the Russian government and US-based organizations. The [...]
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Monday declared that corruption is a “standing threat to our national security” . Kenyatta’s comments come amid criticism that he has lost the fight against corruption. Noting that “the bribe accepted by an official can lead to successful terrorist attacks that kill Kenyans,” Kenyatta said that the fight against corruption [...]
Belgian prosecutors said Monday that they have charged a fourth suspect in connection with the Paris attacks. Mohammed Amri and Hamza Attou have been charged , along with two unnamed individuals, for aiding Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who remains at large. The four individuals charged were among 16 arrested as police conducted 22 raids [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, warned Monday that the increasing polarization of the political parties in Cambodia is reaching a breaking point. Smith is concerned about the possible human rights implication of the polarization. She said that “elected leaders have a responsibility to act in the [...]
A UN human rights expert on Monday advised Nigerian officials to halt mass, unlawful evictions and demolitions in the region of Badia, Lagos, exoressing concern over the homelessness resulting from a lack of adequate housing and compensation to victims. Special Rapporteur Leilani Farha , an expert on the right to adequate housing, warned that upwards [...]
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday pardoned 30 former guerrilla soldiers in jail for non-violent crimes. Yesid Alvarado Reyes , Colombian Minister of Justice and Law, explained that members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who have been convicted of minor crimes, such as rebellion or illegal possession of weapons, are expected [...]
Bahrain has tortured detainees in the years following the country’s 2011 protests , despite a government promise to stop such abuses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Sunday. The report is based on testimony offered by 14 people allegedly assaulted by the police while in custody. Those testifying claim they suffered electrical shock treatment, being exposed [...]
Two senior opposition leaders in Bangladesh on Sunday were executed for war crimes committed during the country’s 1971 war of independence with Pakistan. One of the men, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, was sentenced for crimes that included murdering Bengali nationalists and pro-liberation intellectuals during his position as second in command of the Eastern Pakistani paramilitary [...]
President Obama, on Sunday, ordered an assessment of whether intelligence reports from US Central Command (Centcom) were changed by supervisory military personnel before formal submission to present a more optimistic picture of the American military campaign against the Islamic State (IS). Over the last few weeks, the Pentagon inspector general seized emails from military servers [...]
The Iranian state news service on Sunday announced the sentencing of a Washington Post journalist to an unspecified prison term after he was convicted on charges that include espionage. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, the spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, announced the sentence of journalist Jason Rezaian in a statement on the Iranian state TV website, [...]
